Talent Management

Throughout the different socio-economical ages - agricultural, industrial or knowledgee, one thing has remained a constant force. And that is manpower. While all these ages have been defined based on the economical driving force, thus focus is now slowly shifting to the harnessing of the most important power of all - talent.

Especially since the knowledge age, companies have now started to sit up and take notice of their workforce and how this needs to be nurtured and turned into an optimal differentiator.

To have a strong business continuity plan of the workforce in a company, one needs to have a systematic process of tracking talent management as well. This forms a crucial alignment of the business performance with the business goals and will help analyse the areas where the workforce needs to be developed, in order to achieve and have sustainable, optimal and talented teams across the various levels in the organisation.

How does this work?

One can broadly classify this under six steps:

Defining Talent:

o Develop competency models based on superior performance

o Evaluate talent using various assessment methods including psychometrics

Identify Talent:

o Build a Talent pool across verticals within the company

o Legacy in the system is crucial identify talent present in old hands, based on their skills, knowledge and wisdom and make them a part of the talent pool

o Analyse talent requirement based on:

Criticality of the process

Difficulty level

Replacement cost

Skill set mapping to the various profiles

Acquiring Talent:

Today, while the recruitment process is still left to the HR team, every division manager should be actively involved too. It's not just about picking the best candidate; it's also about selling the role to the candidate. It's now not Why should I hire you?' but Why you should pick our company over the rest?' That's the question one needs to answer.

Nurturing Talent:

o Create an environment that support talent management

o Encourage members to take up new challenges

o Provide space for innovations

o Build an R&R programme that recognises valued contributions, apart from the set KRAs

Managing & Retaining Talent:

o Build a comprehensive career map that captures the competencies required for each role

o Conduct regular reviews and monitor the progress of existing and new talent

o Review the appraisal and remuneration process so that talent role holders remain in the system, in the view of poaching threats from competitors

o Generate process-oriented succession plans, by identifying current gaps in succession of talent management roles

Promote and Transition members across verticals:

Encourage members look at both - lateral and vertical promotions. The advantage of moving in an existing employee to a new role/ responsibility is two-fold: to the employee a new challenge, learning and growth opportunities; employer: skill-sets that the existing member carries with him/her is already measured and the transition becomes smoother and less time-consuming.

Your talented individuals are your final differentiator in your business and every division in the company should work seamlessly in ensuring that this asset is utilised well, as this is what truly drives the company to the next level of performance and delivery. They should feel valued and rewarded for giving superior' contribution to the company's growth. This leads to retention of legacy while also opening up new avenues of innovation on the business front. In the end, your business is what your talent is.

The author is Suman Srinidhi, vice president customer support, TeamLease Services